Elanders Group, an international print, packaging and supply chain solutions provider, has strengthened its market position in UK logistics with the acquisition of a big regional player – in a deal valued at just over £100 million.
Swedish-owned Elanders Group, which has its UK headquarters in North Tyneside, has acquired North West-based third party logistics and warehousing firm, Kammac.
The buy-out will see Elanders increase its warehousing space by over 5.3 million square feet, across 15 new locations, and boost its pallet storage capacity by almost 440,000 units.
Skelmersdale firm, Kammac, has seen rapid recent expansion, with around 20 per cent growth annually in the last three years and healthy profitability. In 2022, Kamac reported turnover of £84.1 million, up from £67.9 million in 2021, and pre-tax profits of £19.6 million, up from £7.5 million the previous year.
The initial valuation amounts to slightly over £100 million on a cash and debt-free basis. The deal will mainly be financed through existing credit facilities.
Kevin Rogers, managing director at Elanders UK, said: “Kammac’s business model is very impressive – they have created success by focusing on offering customers a high level of flexibility for interim storage of their products and components. They have built-up a cluster of warehouses close to each other to bring both large scale, and competitive advantages. Kammac is especially good at maximising resource utilisation and we’re looking forward to working together to further develop their offer, as part of Elanders UK.”
Following the acquisition – which is in line with Elanders’ strategy to constantly develop its services and broaden its customer base – the UK has become the Swedish company’s fourth largest market. The UK is also one of Europe’s largest logistics markets.
Several of the Kammac properties offer services such as bonded warehouses and temperature-controlled environments and the firm also has a license to handle medical products such as pharmaceuticals and their components. One of its competitive edges is that the start-up time for new customers is only one to two weeks. Net sales are generated in various customer segments, which makes the company less vulnerable to fluctuations in the economy.
The company will be consolidated into the Elanders Group.